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| College Inn - 221 North Main Street |
Long before the 1970's rolled around the College Inn was providing meals for hungry students and town folk. But by the 70's it was one of the oldest surviving restaurants in town, along with The Greeks. If you wanted good southern home cooking this was the place.
The College Inn was one of the first businesses to have it's lights on and doors open in the wee hours of morning. Breakfast was served on heavy ceramic plates and likewise a good strong cup o' joe came in a sturdy tan colored mug. You might have one of the proprietors, Arno, greet you as you entered and he was sure to have a "Good mornin' " directed at you, along with a broad smile.
Belly up to the counter or plop down in a booth, it didn't matter. Mrs. Smith or any of the hard working waitresses would tend to you pretty quickly, and if you were a "regular" then chances are they already knew what you wanted.
Likewise, lunch time was a real treat too. Every day there was a different Special on the menu..... from homemade meat loaf to southern fried chicken, real mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans cooked just like a farmer's wife would make them, and so much other good down home stuff that it would (as a friend of mine used to say) "make your tongue slap your brains out !!"
I loved walking to Bank of Blacksburg with my mom because it often meant a stop at the College Inn for a wonderful "home-style" meal on the way back. For me...that meant a grill cheese and bowl of soup! Best thing I ever tasted back then! I also liked to be "Harriett the Spy" and sneak my way thru the alley and up the steps to an alcove that overlooked Main Street. (On this particular day, Shirley Carroll was with me) I liked to watch people go by and remember watching a man who was VERY suspicious come out of the door from the apartments over College Inn. He looked left...he looked right and then "sneaked" through the doorway carrying a bag. I decided that a good spy would follow him because he was up to something bad. We followed him around the block to Draper St and then we went behind a wall. When he came back out, he had no bag. We waited for him to get ahead of us and then checked out the trash cans. Inside one was the paper bag. I guess I expected to find his wife's head of something...but instead there was a wine bottle. I always figured he was getting rid of the evidence before his WIFE got home...otherwise...she just might have HIS head! LOL
ReplyDeleteHello, My name is Laurie and I used to work for Richard Walters at BS&T in 1971-72. That bookstore figured so huge in the make up of the town and the times - a Pillar and an important gathering spot, that I am surprised you haven't got it somewhere on your blog. If you were there then you must surely remember it. Books and Records and Revolution. Any chance you have the wherewithal to correct the oversight? Also I have been trying to find someone who remembers Liskey's Trailer Park and its famous Red Barn - the only actual built structure in the park and home to lots of students and hippies over the years - I among them. A Mr Moore was the proprietor and possible owner. Laurie Le Clair
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